The admissions policy for incoming freshman and transfer students beginning next fall has been retooled to include not only GPA and SAT scores, but also class rankings.

Winston-Salem State's new admission policy will require transfer students from community colleges to have a minimum of 30 credit hours. This includes credits in math, science, social science, foreign language and English. The 2.5 GPA requirement will remain.

Incoming freshmen will not only be admitted based on their GPA, SAT or ACT scores, but also their class rankings. They still have to meet the high school course requirements of English, math, science and foreign language.

Admissions requires students to have a minimum GPA of 2.5. and SAT scores must be a minimum of 800, the critical reading and math scores combined. Students who have to take the ACT must have a composite score of 17.

The required class rankings are being reviewed and will be available in November.

"Our focus is to look at more of a student's potential based upon their work habit in high school and how they compare to their peers," said Tomikia LeGrande, assistant vice chancellor of Enrollment Management.

The new policy will use a sliding scale. Students with a GPA less than 2.5 must have SAT scores above 800. On the other hand, students with SAT scores less than 800 must have a GPA above 2.5.

"I feel that this is a well-rounded and fair plan," said Vonda Riley, a nursing major from Lewisville. "Many things and areas should be considered."

According to the 2009 WSSU Fact Book, 1,979 students were admitted as freshman while 1,511 students were rejected. The average high school student's GPA was 3.01 and the average SAT score was 900.

Cheryl Pollard-Burns, associate director of freshmen and Visiting Admissions, said the new admission requirements will better predict the academic success of new students.

"I'm excited about blending the matrix to include class rank," Pollard-Burns said.

"It means we can equally spread our decision among three factors as opposed to just two."